A September to Remember

[Old school]

Last year I drew an elk tag and planned an archery hunt - my son and I would take 2 weeks and spend it in the mountains hunting - anticipation was high as we e scouted and practiced with our bows. Two weeks before our departure my dad had some major health issues and my son and I made the decision to just stay home. Disappointed, but awaiting 2022 when we would draw bull tags. 2022 rolls around and we do indeed draw bull tags - and we are planning another archery hunt for 2 weeks in mid Sept. We have archery hunted OTC in a couple states and every year we get closer to connecting, but just haven’t successfully killed an elk with our bows. Been oh so close, but never able to seal the deal.

Summer flew by and before we knew it, Sept was upon us. We departed Missouri early Saturday morning and it was short sleeve weather. Half way thru Kansas and it was blowing rain and mid 40’s. Quite the weather change. We spent the night in Colorado, I preached for a friend of mine in Eastern Colorado Sunday morning and then we continued west that Sunday afternoon.

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Our last meal while in civilization- a Mexican send off
Sunday night we make it to a little mountain town and get checked in to the local motel. Last night sleeping with the creature comforts for the next 11 days.

[Old school]

We get to the motel and catch a short night of sleep - anticipation is running high. Monday morning we wake up to picture perfect September elk weather. We cannot wait to get to camp.

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Grab a cup of coffee for me and my son gets a box of donuts and some chocolate milk and we hit the road. It’s less than 30 miles to camp, how long can that take, right…
Scenery is beautiful as we leave town

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[Old school]

A little over 3 hrs later and we are finally approaching camp - the road started out nice and smooth, but when it got rough, it got real rough.

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There are not supposed to be antelope here.

[Old school]

We arrive at our designated camp spot and start unpacking and getting camp setup - our home for the next 11 days.

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[Old school]

Not sure why some pics are upside down and some sideways - hopefully a moderator can rotate them.

[Old school]

One side note - about half way through our rough road to camp I start smelling gasoline. We’ve got a couple 5 gallon cans in the trailer - yep, splashed all over the place. Pro tip - place 5 gallon gas cans in a contractor bag so if they splash, you don’t have clothes that reek of gasoline.
We shoot our bows a couple times to verify all is well - and we head out for an evening hunt. Soaking it all in - weather is absolutely beautiful, but rain is supposed to be moving in (becomes the theme of the hunt).

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Covered a couple miles that night hunting and saw some beautiful scenery but didn’t see any elk - just heard a big herd of sheep bleating for the last hour of daylight. No elk seen or heard but a great place to be in mid Sept - hunting elk with a bow with your son. Doesn’t get much better than that.

[six]

Oh boy. I can't wait. More plz.

[Old school]

An elk killer that I met on a different forum - Mike, met up with us and was a great help. He’s killed a bunch of elk with his bow and I knew we would learn a ton from him.

We get back to camp and get a fire going in the stove, life is good. Eat a little supper and hit the sack. First 1/2 day in the books. Mike is a great guy and we are going to really enjoy this hunt.
Weather is supposed to move in Wed morning - rain. We’ve got a dry day tomorrow though so we are looking forward to that. Got to take advantage of the good days.

Mike is at camp well before light Tue AM and we get moving toward where we will start our hunt - it’s going to be about a 3 mile loop. We make our way into some broken timber with medium sized meadows in them - it’s just breaking light and he lets out a bugle - and man, it sounds just like a mature bull. His call goes silent and we wait - no response. Oh well, let’s get moving. We continue through these broken meadows - I mean it looks like they should be full of elk. He bugles every so often and we are getting no response. Odd… this is not how this is supposed to work. We sit down and eat some breakfast. Eating breakfast while sitting on a hillside watching nature wake up - sorry, I didn’t get a picture, but you guys can use your imagination. Peaceful and in awe - makes you feel pretty small in the grand scheme of things.

Mike says - let’s move towards a couple bigger meadows back through the timber, so we head in that direction. We get there and can hear the crows/magpies going crazy about 100 yards back in the timber. Levi and I both have handguns with underwood hard cast ammo - bear stoppers. Mike says “you might want to have your guns ready, they are probably on a carcass and there might be a bear there as well”. We circle around upwind and approach the birds.

[Old school]

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The side by side we had seen the night before - well, this was where he had been and looked like he had been packing out elk meat that night.

[Old school]

There was a lot of elk sign all through the timber and mixed meadows but no elk. We did some cold calling setups but nothing responded. Bugled, squeals and cow talk - nothing was interested though.
Made our way through the woods and found an old tree stand at the edge of a clearing - I always wonder if those tree stands could talk - the stories they could tell. Who knows how long it had been there and if the owner still hunted elk or had passed on.

Who knows - maybe it’s one of Swedes long lost relatives.

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[Old school]

We found 2 other tree stands - same design, guy had a variety of places to hunt and all of them setup at major elk intersections - there was fresh sign everywhere. Figure they were there but probably got pushed out by the guy killing the spike and packing out the meat. Who knows - maybe they were just cycling around their normal pattern and we had just missed them by a day.

[Swede]

I wondered where my ladder went but that is not my stand. I don't want any homemade wood stands. I sure have made a lot of those pole ladders. Mine are usually 17 feet tall. Don't ask why they are 17 feet. I don't have any reason other than that is how tall I prefer them.

[Elkhunttoo]

Great stuff so far man…looks like a great time with your son

[Lefty]

Some good stuff there!!1

[Old school]

We were both surprised that we hadn’t heard any bugles yet - it wasn’t due to the caller, that’s for sure. The elk were just quiet but there was sign everywhere we walked. We were looking forward to the evening hunt and hoping for a bugling bull. The plan was made - we were going to drive a little ways from camp and try another spot. Once again, anticipation is running high as to what we may see that evening. It’s like - we know it’s going to happen, it’s just the when that’s in question. Each hunt we anticipate it being “the hunt”.

[Old school]

One of the real differences between how Mike hunts and how we had hunted in the past is that we really never hunted evenings - since I’ve had cataract surgery my evening vision isn’t very good the last 1/2 hr of light.
Mike said that’s a big mistake - some of his best hunts were evening hunts. For me this hunt was about getting Levi an elk, but it was also about learning how to hunt from someone who has had repeated success so that in future years I could be successful on my own - I learn best by 1st hand experience - seeing it in action. Even though the first 2 hunts had been unproductive, we were still learning. And just being out there - never want to take that for granted. What a blessing to be able to be in the mountains with an elk tag in September.

[Old school]

Mike comes over to our camp and we get in our vehicle and start heading to the spot Mike had picked out on a map - he had never been there but said - “this spot looks like elk will be there and we are going to find out tonight.” Off we go, driving to this new spot. 30 minutes or so later we are piling out of the truck getting our packs on and heading to “the spot”. The walk there wasn’t really anything too special - heading to a high meadow. We walk a trail and peel off it and head through a little bit or timber heading to the meadow. The meadow is basically a scrub sage meadow - doesn’t look unique at all - then we hit the crest of it. Wow - breathtaking scenery. Mike says “This is a Kodak moment right here - and Levi, you probably don’t even know what that means.” We got a good chuckle out of that.
So we plan to sit in the meadow for an hour or so and then Mike plans to do some calling. The meadow slopes downward at probably 10 degrees and also slopes off each side - starting mild like but then runs into timber and gets pretty steep down to a creek - the distance from where the edge of the meadow goes down to a creek is about 50 yards.

Levi goes and sits down by a clump of big sage and Mike and I are talking quietly about 10 yards away. Levi starts pointing down below us and there are 3 nice mulies just standing there looking at us. They hop away and ease into the timber. Here’s scenery up there.

[Old school]

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[Old school]

Levi and I take a seat next to some sage and Mike is sitting 20-30 yards away - we are basically killing some time waiting for the last hour of daylight. What a way to kill time - sitting on the mountainside taking in all the scenery. Felt like you could see 10 miles out in front - it was great. When we got out of the truck it was spitting rain so we all had our rain gear on. It spit rain on and off and it looked like it would hold off really raining till after dark.
Mike gets up and let’s loose with a bugle - nothing answers. He waits a little bit and bugles again - and boom, off to our right a bull screams back. Levi and I have our backcountry convenience store spread out around us - quest bars, snickers, payday, granola bars, Gatorade - Mike says “it’s go time, let’s go”. We are kind of lolly gagging around getting snacks out back into our packs, putting rain gear into our packs - you get the idea… We get up and start moving toward the edge of the timber - we were about 150 or so yards out in the meadow. We get over to Mike and start heading towards the timber. Mike says - when it’s go time, you guys need to bust it - get moving, no messing around, it can happen real quick - you guys took way too much time to get ready, if that bull commits he can be on top of you in no time. Point taken. I was thinking - he’s 300-400 yards away, we’ve got time. Mike says - it’s hard to say how far he is away - too many variables. Mike bugles again and the bull immediately responds - he’s about 200 yards away and closing, we need to get setup now. This is incredible and we can’t believe it’s about to happen.

3 hunts in and we’ve finally heard our first bugle. Mike hangs back in the meadow about 30 yards and gets Levi setup directly in front of him in the timber. The bull is bugling down in the bottom (the hill is so steep that the bull won’t be able to see up into the meadow where Mike is calling from). Adrenaline is running high - is this bull going to play or did he just respond twice and that will be it? I setup about 60 yards to the left of Levi slightly downslope of him. Directly in front of us the slope is probably 50 degrees and goes down to a creek - the timber is fairly thick and dark between us and the creek and it’s about 50 yards down to the creek.

We are setup and Mike lets loose with a classic bugle and the bull answers immediately and he is definitely closer. The hunt is definitely on at this point. Mike and the bull exchange multiple bugles and next thing you know branches are snapping and busting below us - he is coming in.

[Old school]

Another bull directly in front of me starts screaming at us as well - he’s probably 300 yards away across the creek and in the other wooded hillside, but he is closing ground quickly as well. Then another bull much further away - 600-700 yards or so starts screaming and he has a whole different tone and attitude. He’s got a raspy, deep edge to his bugle. I don’t know elk speak, but I believe he was saying “don’t make me come up there kids”. He had a bugle that I could listen to forever - it was awesome. Man did I want to lay eyes on the bull making those bugles. Mike continues calling and I’m expecting to hear Levi’s bow go off at any time - the bull is bugling directly below him - and the thermals are right - sucking down from right to left. Everything about this setup is right and I’m making mental notes and thinking “we are packing meat tonight and it’s only the 2nd night.” The bull in front of me sounds like he’s now about 200 yards away and he definitely wants to join the elk party we’ve got going on. The bull further to my left has also gotten closer and Zowies, his bugle is just flat out mesmerizing. I want that guy to get here but don’t think he will make it before it gets dark - he’s kind of taking his sweet time while the other 2 have committed.
Suddenly the bull below Levi barks - what in the world? No way he caught scent, did he see some movement or what? Mike barks back at him - they go back and forth in a barking match for probably 5-10 minutes. The bull that was coming in directly in front of me has now hung up at about 200 yards. I obviously can’t see him but can tell he’s not moving. He’s still bugling every 30 seconds or so but he is no longer coming in. The bull to my left continues his slow progress our way and is bugling probably every minute. Let me just say, this was totally awesome. I felt like I was in a Will Primos video.

I was thinking - the bull in front of Levi isn’t coming in, but he’s not leaving either. I ought to take off and go shoot that bull that is 200 yards in front of me. I could simply sneak in on him and arrow him while he bugles back and forth with Mike and the barking bull. I hadn’t hunted with Mike before and didn’t quite know his style so I didn’t want to screw something up so I just stayed put.

Big McDaddy to my left continues to bugle and get closer but no way is he making it before dark. Mike gives a few cow chirps and it’s time for Levi and I to regather with Mike. We get up to Mike and Levi has eyes the size of saucers - “that was absolutely incredible” he says. He said the bull was right in front of him 40 yards but he never showed himself. I told Mike of my thoughts that I had about sneaking in on the other bull. Mike says, you should’ve popped back up in the meadow and given me a hand signal and took after him, that would’ve been a great plan. Stink! I should’ve just went with what I knew I should do, and I honestly believe that I would’ve killed that bull that night. You know what they say about hindsight…

The walk back to the Sequoia was great - we were coming back here in the morning for sure. I mean if it was this good tonight (best elk encounter I’d ever experienced for sure) how incredible would it be in the morning when they really talk and we won’t run out of shooting light.

To say expectations were through the roof would be a vast understatement. I was fully expecting to have at least one dead elk tomorrow morning. We drive back to camp, cook up some supper and crash for a short night of rest. The stars were incredible outside our tent - it was like you could reach out to the little and Big Dipper they were right there - and my pictures of it are worse than terrible.

View Outside The Front Door of the Tent

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What an incredible blessing and opportunity, sit right outside your tent and look out to that!

[Old school]

It rains off and on through the night but we are still on for the morning hunt - it’s not raining at 4AM, so the hunt is a go. Eat a granola bar, Mike shows up to camp and we hop in the Sequoia. Everything is wet and the road is a little greasy but we are headed to the spot. Can’t wait to be in that meadow at first light and start chasing bugles. I feel like a coon dog on a leash.
We get to our designated pull off spot, and park the Sequoia - packs on, bows in hand and we are off. We haven’t walked more than 2-300 yards and an elk runs across the path. Man this is good. It wasn’t spooked, didn’t smell us, it’s just moving.

We get to the meadow and it is just getting light. Mike cranks out a signature bugle and we are expecting the mountains around us to light up with responses - and nothing…. Well that was surprising. He bugles again - and nothing. Throw in a few cow calls - nothing. Wait a few minutes and try again - nothing. I’m in total disbelief. This meadow/ draw was on fire last night with 3 screaming bulls and now nothing?????

We drop down where I was standing the previous night and make our way across the creek and head up to where the bull was directly in front of me - now I see the terrain over there and I’m really kicking myself for not executing that plan last night and sneaking in on that bull. It’s a hillside with a decent meadow that has small trees scattered throughout it - like perfect spot and stalk topography. We peel off and head down to the left where McDaddy was bugling - deer and elk trails abound. We start gaining elevation - side note, spring and summer workouts are paying off. Every hunt I have knee issues - I start out with McDavid neoprene knee sleeves and wear them every day, but my knees still bother me. But not this time. Leg, and core strength have really helped my knee issue and my knees aren’t barking at me. I’m liking this - my lungs on the other hand are screaming at me.

We get about 2/3 of the way up the slope and Mike says let’s sit down here - looks like a good spot to eat some breakfast. Light rain on and off, but man, this is the good life. There’s no dry place to sit down, but oh well, we are in the mountains in Sept chasing elk - smile and enjoy breakfast.

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[Old school]

Mandatory boot picture with Cheesehead photobombing
Lowa Caminos were great as usual - wet boots but dry feet thanks to them and my gaitors.

[Old school]

We finish breakfast and hunt back to the Sequoia - the rain is transitioning from a light rain to a steady rain - yuck x 1,000.
Time to get back to camp. We get in the Sequoia and start down the mountain heading for camp. I’m still in 2WD but the BFG KO2’s give plenty of traction - at least initially. We branch off on a different spur road and check out some close by country. I find a spot to pull off and get us turned back around to the road. We make our way back but start slipping in the grease and I get us stopped and into 4WD. Well, we are still slipping towards the edge of the road and the drop won’t be enough to kill us, but if we go off the edge, it’s going to hurt - it’s a ways to the bottom. Not a white knuckle moment but definitely not comfortable either when you’re slipping in the grease heading towards the lowest point which is off the edge.

I get us stopped again and Mike asks if we are in 4W low - I put it in low and we crawl the rest of the way back to camp under 10mph. No big deal - it is a steady rain and we listen to stories from the past about Mike’s elk hunts. This trip is everything and more than I thought it would be. We get back to camp - Mike rides his ATV back to his camp and Levi and I cook up some lunch. Mike says if the rain continues we won’t be hunting in it - it’s a steady cold rain. Dampens the spirit some, but there’s always something to be thankful for. We’ve got a tent with a wood stove. We’ve had it much worse. 4 years prior we were hunting with a Kodiak Canvas - great tent but no stove Jack. It rained/sleeted/snowed off and on for about 3 days and we had no wood stove, only a buddy heater. Instead of being cold and wet we were semi-warm and wet. Yuck. This time, we had a tent with a stove Jack and had a Colorado Cylinder Stove. It may be miserable outside but it was toasty warm inside. Time for a long afternoon nap. We went to sleep listening to the steady rain hitting the rain fly over the tent. Man life is so good. I’ve got my senses to feel the warm dry heat, ears to hear the rain and eyes to see it all - a blessed man for sure.

[Swede]

The bull that started barking was made nervous by something. I suspect he saw just a piece of your son. Likely it was a little movement. He did not see enough to be sure. He just got nervous and wanted to find out what moved. I have never been able to call them any closer after they bark. I had on in Idaho bark for hours until he just finally left. I am not positive if he saw a bit of movement by me or if it was possibly something else. I suspect it was me as he was higher up the hill in the brush and timber. I could never see him.

[Swede]

We need to get the rest of this story. I know it turned out well.

[Old school]

Swede - something is wrong with the site. Yesterday I got frustrated enough that I just stopped posting and finished the story on another forum. Here I’ll hit “post reply” and it takes over a minute just to simply load the opportunity to post. Then I type a bunch of paragraphs and add pictures and when I hit submit it starts working but 3-4 minutes later it times out and gives me an error message about the server timing out.

I plan on finishing this thread, but man, it’s killing me and I don’t know if I can even get the posts/pics to load….

This isn’t an intentional pause that’s for sure.

[WapitiTalk1]

Swede - something is wrong with the site. Yesterday I got frustrated enough that I just stopped posting and finished the story on another forum. Here I’ll hit “post reply” and it takes over a minute just to simply load the opportunity to post. Then I type a bunch of paragraphs and add pictures and when I hit submit it starts working but 3-4 minutes later it times out and gives me an error message about the server timing out.

I plan on finishing this thread, but man, it’s killing me and I don’t know if I can even get the posts/pics to load….

This isn’t an intentional pause that’s for sure.

OS, I straightened out your pics. I have no idea why you're having trouble posting on the site. I haven't heard of anyone else having issues but please let me know if it continues. Really enjoying your thread, please continue

[Swede]

I am having no issue posting now but have had times where it just was not working for me.

[Old school]

Wednesday afternoon and the rain briefly lets up but then picks back up with more intensity - man, we will miss our first hunt due to weather. No evening hunt - get to bed early and get an early start in the morning if the weather cooperates

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Rain coming

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[Old school]

We cook up some mountain house for dinner - First mountain house I’ve had and I’m not real impressed. Inreach with Mike and he says if it’s raining when we wake up - go back to sleep, we aren’t hunting in the rain.
We go to sleep with the steady pitter patter of rain hitting the rain fly. Wood stove is cranking and we have the windows slightly open for some airflow and temp regulation. Hoping that we will awaken to silence. Throughout the night I awake and it’s still raining. Alarm goes off and it’s still raining. Big fat bummer!!!! You only have so many days to hunt and now this will be the 2nd consecutive hunt that the rain has cancelled. Oh well, don’t fret about what you can’t control. Shut the alarm off and tell Levi - no hunt this morning, sleep in.

[Old school]

We sleep in to what seems like forever - like 1/2 the day is wasted and gone. It’s 9:00.
We’ve got the stove down to a science - you know, the correct amount and type of wood with the damper set at the right position where it doesn’t roast you initially only to burn out before morning. We awaken to a warm tent and the stove is full of red embers.

I have a mountain house breakfast skillet for breakfast and I think “this is way better than what I had last night.” We had packed the mountain house meals just in case we did some spike camping - but it didn’t look like we would be doing that, so we’re eating some mountain house.

Finish up breakfast and it’s still steady raining. Sit on my cot and spend some time reading my Bible. I’m telling you - this is the good life. It may be raining outside, but I’m still living in America, on an elk hunt in Sept with my son. God is good and I’m a content man. This will all work out.

[Old school]

I think it was sometime Monday afternoon or Tuesday afternoon that Levi went down the way from the tent and decided to check out a lake and climb a mountain. He came back and said there were some trout in the lake. Both he and Mike had brought fishing gear and Mike said we will hit that some day for trout.
The rain begins to letup just after lunch and Levi says let’s go try to catch some trout after lunch. We eat some lunch and Levi shoots his bow 20,30 or 500 times - he’s obsessed with being able to make the shot when the time comes. Levi only had 1 pair of boots and they were damp - even hanging them in the tent every night. Mike said he had a pair of Crispi’s in Levi’s size and they didn’t really fit him too well - they were basically brand new, and he said if we wanted them he would make us a deal. Levi put them on to try them out down at the mountain lake.

We are getting out and about outside camp and we hear an ATV coming. It’s Mike and he’s got his fly rod and gear. We tell him we were just getting ready to do the same thing - great minds think alike.

Levi has the Crispis on that he is basically taking for a “trial run” to see how they feel. I’ve got on my green rubber LaCrosse boots - the three of us start walking toward the lake.

We get down there and the couple of streams that feed it are pretty shallow and there’s a spot to cross but it involves jumping across and landing on a small somewhat muddy spot that’s in about 3-4” of water. Levi doesn’t want to do that just in case the boots don’t work out, kind of rude to hand back a pair of wet and muddy boots and say “they didn’t feel too good”. So he and Mike walk down where it’s dry and they can just walk around. I’m thinking “I’ve got on rubber boots that are like 16” tall, I’ve got this… Matter of fact I jump and in mid air I say to them “I’ll be fine as long as this isn’t a silty bottom”. About that time my left foot contacts the “mud” in 3” of water and I quickly realize this was a bad idea. In a fraction of a nano-second I feel the mud/water going past my calf, over my knee, mid thigh -oh yeah. I quickly propel myself and my momentum to literally fall/belly flop onto the land so that makes my leg pull out. All this in one graceful motion. If you can’t laugh at yourself, you need to get out more.

We all get a good laugh and I’m scraping mud off my pants and out of my boots. Well now that we got that out of the way, let’s catch some trout.

[Old school]

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[Old school]

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[Old school]

We finish the fishing trip and head back to camp around 3:00 and guess what it starts doing - yep, you guessed it, it’s steady raining again. At least we had a 3 hr break and got some fishing in. Always something to be thankful for. Sometimes you have to look a little harder, but there is always something to be thankful for. Mike puts on his rain gear, gets on his ATV and heads back to his camp - same message as yesterday “if you get up and it’s raining, we aren’t hunting”. Hoping that wouldn’t be the case we step into the tent. Gray and gloomy rain pauses for about 10 minutes each hour - but it doesn’t look good. Tonight’s hunt is already cancelled, and tomorrow morning, well, who knows, we will see what the night holds. Some wolf chili for supper, look over some on x maps, stoke up the stove, rehearse the blessings of the day together, count our blessings and go to sleep to the pitter patter of rain hitting the rain fly.

[Old school]

I wake up several times through the night and it’s steady raining. Alarm goes off, I awaken and yep - it’s full out raining. Tell Levi, sleep in, we aren’t hunting this morning. Once again we wake up around 9:00. I’ve got a drip hitting my sleeping bag - fix a slight roof issue and it stops leaking.
Mountain House breakfast skillet again for breakfast - not quite as good as I remembered from yesterday, but it’s ok. Levi warms up some water and eats about 4 packs of oatmeal, a couple cup of applesauce and who knows what else - he’s a human garbage disposal. Weren’t we all at 19.

This just feels like this is an all day rain - it’s completely grey outside and it’s alternating between steady rain and hard rain - the kind where you don’t leave the tent. We throw some more wood in the stove, read our Bibles, look over on x maps and inreach message with Mike - today looks to be a complete wash. Sitting in a tent all day will test your sanity - at least it does mine. We eat lunch and then nap - wake up and it’s still raining hard. At this point we know tomorrow we aren’t going to make it to our “spot” - roads will be a disaster. We will be relegated to hunting from camp by foot. Oh well, roll with the punches. It rains all afternoon and evening. We load up the wood stove and hit the sack fully prepared for another day in the tent - the weather forecast has a 50% chance of rain Saturday and so far it really didn’t matter what the % chance was - if there was any chance, it rained.

[Old school]

So when we went to bed Fri night we were fully expecting to wake up to a steady rain and have another full day in the tent. The alarm went off Saturday morning and we awoke to a strange phenomenon- silence outside. It wasn’t raining. We did a happy dance, ate a breakfast bar, threw the rain gear into our packs and out the tent door we went. No way could we drive on the roads, but we would make the most of the day. We walked down to where we went the very first night, where we heard all the sheep. I left out something from Thursday afternoon. After fishing and before it started raining we got back to camp and Mike asked about us calling. (I think I’ve got the day right, if not, it’s a minor, inconsequential detail). I say “I haven’t used my calls in 2 years”. I ask about bugling and he says - probably not a good idea, there may be elk around . No use educating them, or in my case running them into the next unit. We get out our cow calls - trinity wood game calls. I start blowing it upside down and it sounds shall we say a little different. I get back in the groove - at least my groove. Mike says - I think you’re holding that upside down, but if you can make it sound like a cow - go with it. My cow calling is not very good. Mike is kind enough to say - that’s good enough.
Anyway - back to Saturday morning. We get to our spot - it’s a steep north facing heavily wooded slope that goes down to a creek. We drop down about 1/2 way and hit a game trail that we follow for a ways. We stop and I let loose with my first bugle. No words needed to be said - Levi’s expression said it all - you sure don’t sound like Mike. Our eyes met and I said “well if that doesn’t make you miss Mike, nothing will.” I mean it was terrible - a bull wouldn’t bugle back at that but we may hear him chuckling - sorry, just couldn’t resist that one.

I think even Doug Flutie would’ve been looking at me sideways after that bugle attempt. We travel down the game trail and it’s really starting to disappear. Wet branches slapping on you - we are now both pretty wet, but who really cares, we’ve got bows in hand and we are out of the tent.

I stop and bugle again - much improved from the first attempt. We walk some more and are dropping in elevation down towards the creek - I let loose with a bugle and it actually sounds good - like a decent satellite bugle. I get an immediate response back behind us - where we just came from, but probably 200’ lower in elevation. The thermals are sucking down, so we quickly drop elevation and bugle again - he responds. This is unreal, we’ve got an elk within 200 yards and we are on the same elevation. Levi sets up in front of me and I cut loose with an even better sounding bugle. The bull responds but he is about 100’ feet above us. He bugles again - further up the mountain. We aren’t going to chase him. We drop down towards the creek and find tons of fresh sign. Like a large herd had hung out here for a couple days - but they aren’t here now.

We cross the creek and head up the opposite slope - it’s big and it’s steep. I want to scale it and cover some ground up top and head further to a huge northern facing slope - that slope is a little over 3 miles from camp. What a beautiful walk. Broken meadows, scattered aspens, big boulder strewn meadows. We walked through one that looked exactly like a spot BRO and Cory J hunted in one of their videos from 3-4 years ago. Who knows, maybe it was the spot. Doesn’t really matter, but man it looked elky. Mule Deer sign every where and we saw a few does, but no bulls would respond to my calling. I started second guessing taking this trek - maybe we should have trailed that bugling bull uphill first thing and tried to get him once he bedded. No use second guessing, we made a decision and needed to just roll with it.

Mike had got on his ATV and he was back over near our spot from Tue night. He had got on a herd that had the big bull in it and he followed them to bedding ground and was just going to hang out on the mountain with them till they got up for the evening. Levi and I were confident Mike would kill that herd bull and we would be packing meat that night

Back to our hunt. We finally make it to the big north facing slope - it’s huge and there’s probably 600’ of elevation down to the bottom of it. Heavily wooded and somewhat steep. I figure we will get a response here and it will be game on.

We drop down a little ways and start side hilling while occasionally stopping to bugle. I’m completely surprised that we get no responses. Total silence.

We start the huge loop back towards camp. Who knows, we could run into elk anywhere here - elk are where you find them and sometimes you find them in the strangest of places. Our spirits are a little low, but it’s ok.

[Old school]

Some Saturday scenery

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[Old school]

More Saturday Scenery

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[Old school]

8.5 miles walked that morning and 95 floors climbed - according to the iPhone. It did feel like we did a death march that morning. We circled back across the creek and headed up the steep hill back towards the trail. There’s sign absolutely everywhere in there. It’s thick with elk sign, but the elk aren’t there. We stop for a breather and turn around and look back to the meadow on the opposite side that we just crossed not 20 minutes ago. A black bear is running out across it and down towards the creek. That was a neat bonus right there. If we wouldn’t have stopped and turned around at that precise time, we would’ve missed it. We’ve seen antelope, mulies, black bear - now we just need to find an elk.
We walk back to camp and then eat lunch. I take a nap and Levi shoots his bow.

Saturday evening it’s spitting rain, but we are going to hunt. It’s not steady rain, just off and on drizzle. We walk down around the area that we hunted the first evening but drop off the other side and put together a make shift ground blind - there’s a meadow with a wallow in the middle of it and quite a bit of elk sign in the timber surrounding the meadow. My expectations aren’t super high, but we are in the woods and who knows when an elk will show up. I’m honestly just soaking up every moment spent out there with Levi - I’m a blessed man, elk or no elk. But I’m really wanting Levi to get an elk.

[Old school]

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View Sat night from our make shift ground blind

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[Old school]

We walk back to camp in the dark - no elk seen or herd tonight. We won’t hunt tomorrow morning for sure - it’s Sunday morning, we will hop in the Sequoia and listen to a few preaching CD’s and then go from there.
We get back to camp, and it’s starting to lightly rain again. We get some more wood under the rain fly in the small entry way, fire up the jetboil and cook some dinner. Go thru the routine, stoke the stove and hit the sack.

It absolutely pours rain the entire night - like thunderstorm pours. It’s raining to beat the band out there all night long. We sleep in and wake up to bluebird skies. The rain has passed thru and it’s absolutely beautiful out.

I eat another mountain house breakfast skillet. My opinion has gone from “this is really good” to “this isn’t quite as good as yesterday” to “ I can’t believe people actually eat this stuff”. Levi eats his normal 3 packs of oatmeal along with a couple cups of applesauce and some cups of peanut butter. We finish up breakfast and head to the Sequoia for our mountain view church service.

Listen to 3 messages capped off by Paris Reidhead “10 shekels and a shirt”. Was a good morning spiritually being challenged by the preaching of God’s Word.

I cook up some lunch and get ready to take a nap. Levi grabs his bow and goes outside. I fall asleep to the sounds of a bow going off and an arrow thumping into a target.

I wake up and he is still shooting his bow. I go outside and ask him what he’s doing and he says I’m good at all my marked yardages but now I’m just walking around and shooting at random distances from different angles and from standing, sitting, quick release, holding for a minute or more - any combination of what you could ever imagine happening on an elk hunt. He is over prepared (if there can be such a thing).

I go back in the tent and start looking over on x. I’m tired of hunting around camp - lots of elk sign from before that spike was shot, but I think that guy pressured them a little too much and they’ve temporarily moved out.

I’m using previous years experience and also pointers that Mike has given as far as how he identifies elky spots. Mike has a gift - talent that he has honed that involves being able to look at a map and find where elk will be.

I study the map for a couple of hours and think I’ve identified a really good spot. Mike hasn’t said anything about it and we haven’t hunted around it either. We will just be “going in blind”.

[Old school]

It’s around 5:00 and I tell Levi, let’s go drive and check out a new spot I’ve found on on x - see if we can get anything to bugle so we can have them marked for Monday morning. Monday and Tuesday are forecasted to be absolutely perfect Sept elk weather. Bluebird skies and cool.
Levi says “ok, are we hunting this evening”. I say “no we aren’t hunting” just going to see what this area looks like from the ground. We will drive this mountain road and see how it looks and if anything is talking before dark.

Levi says “should I throw my bow in the Sequoia”. I say “absolutely!!!! If we run into a bull with a death wish, I don’t want to disappoint him.” We load up and off we go. The road is a little greasy, but a full day of wind and bright sun has taken most of the grease off it.

[Old school]

I’m in my green Duluth Trading pants, my LaCrosse rubber boots (my muddy trout fishing outfit). Levi has on sweat pants and tennis shoes. Off we go - hopeful to find out this spot is everything I think it might be. About a half hour later we are slow climbing the mountain in the Sequoia. One side of the road looks bad but the other looks really really good. We drive uphill for a couple miles and pull off the side of the road. We both get out and man it is absolutely perfect - early evening chill, the strong scent of pines and what a view. We walk up the road about 100 yards and I let out a bugle - no response. We walk another 100 yards and I let out another bugle and a bull immediately responds somewhere below us.
We think it came from down hill so we go back to the Sequoia and backup a ways and get out and bugle again - nothing. So we drive further up the mountain and get out and bugle - bam! The bull answers and he’s right below us like 500-600 yards but man is it a steep drop. Levi looks at me and I say “grab your bow, we are dropping in”. We scramble down the hill about 300 yards and I let out a bugle - the bull is on his feet but he’s heading downhill - there’s a big meadow at the base of the sidehill and it runs for about a mile heading downhill kind of following the road. We scramble back up the hill and man it is way steeper going up than it was going down. I stop a couple times and think I’m going to pass out, my heart is pounding. We get back to the Sequoia, throw his bow in the back and race down the hill probably 1/4 mile. Jump out, run down into the timber and bugle and he screams back at us, but he’s already past our location again - another sprint back up to the Sequoia. My 52 year old heart can’t take much more of this - I’m not used to sprinting up hill at high elevation. And the slope is probably 50 degrees or so. Super steep for me to be sprinting.

We jump in the Sequoia and this time we go about 1/2 mile downhill before we stop. There’s an old logging road that angles down into the timber and I tell Levi “ grab your bow, we are doing this one last time”. We do a fast walk down into the timber probably 300 yards or so on the old logging road and I cut loose with a bugle - no response. Oh well, at least we know where we are going tomorrow morning.

I say let’s drop down a little further and bugle one more time. We do that and boom he fires off a massive scream and oh yeah, we have dropped down far enough and he hasn’t got to us yet. I bugle and he screams again. He isn’t in the timber though - he’s another 300 yards down and he’s in the meadow walking down the drainage. No way we can drop down and intercept him - he’s moving way too fast but man is he fired up. He’s a mature bull and screaming every time I bugle.

All of a sudden another bull is bugling with him. We can tell that they are down in the meadow moving quickly but they continue to bugle at me. We’ve got 15 minutes of light left and suddenly another bull lights up big time - and he’s not in the meadow, he’s in the timber on our side and we are inbetween him and where he wants to go.

I bugle and he screams back - he’s well under 200 yards. I tell Levi “this dude is coming in, this is a fat boy heading to the evening buffet and he thinks we are taking the last seat.” We drop a little elevation and I bugle and he screams back - he’s under 100 yards and closing fast. We haven’t seen him but can tell there’s no doubt he is committed and coming in. The other 2-3 bulls down in the meadow are screaming their heads off - it’s like Tuesday night only on steroids.

After he screams from under 100 yards I tell Levi we need to run forward, drop some elevation and find a shooting lane and we’ve got 10 seconds to do it. I jump in front of him and say “follow me”. We sprint maybe20 yards to a fallen log with a root ball at the end of it. There’s a small clearing running down towards the meadow (its about 10 yards across). Will be an absolute perfect setup. He will hit that opening before can catch our thermals.

I’m not calling again - don’t want to give away our final position/setup. I don’t think we are there even 10 seconds and we hear major branches breaking like a bulldozer is running through a lumber yard. Sounds like 2x4’s are snapping like tooth picks. I’m actually starting to shake and I’m the caller, don’t even have my bow. All of a sudden I see legs coming thru the timber. He’s down below us and on a steady fast walk. I look over at Levi and he’s down on his knees and coming to full draw - this is the first time we’ve ever been drawn back on a bull. His eyes are huge - he says “dad, he’s coming in, he’s right there”. I tell him take a deep breath and get your head in the game. Get your face into that string, find him in your peep an execute your shot.

The bull comes to a stop about 5 yards from the clearing - he is 18 yards below us and quartering very hard to us. A frontal will be way risky, he’s not turned quite enough. I look down and Levi is absolutely locked in. I look back at the bull. He has absolutely no idea that we are there and the thermals are blowing a good 20 yards out in front of the bull. Unless the breeze switches or the bull gets nervous, this just might happen.

He stands for what seems to be an absolute eternity. I know it was well over a minute. I’m afraid to move and have him catch my movement so I’m not even turning my head an inch.

All of a sudden Levi’s bow goes off and the bull whirls and goes crashing back the direction from which he came.

I’m incomplete unbelief. I look down to ask him what happened. How come you waited over a minute and nothing changed about the bulls angle or body position. I was afraid he had got bull fever and just took a shot.

I look down and he has moved about 3’ - I’m thinking “what in the world”. I say what’s up. He says - I was at full draw and didn’t have a shot but I saw an opening to shoot through so I slowly slid on my knees (while at full draw) until I got there and then I made the shot. He says, I wasn’t shaking and was dead on. I shot him for just under 20 yards.

I walk down to where the bull was standing and Levi ranges me - 18 yards. There was no time for that before the shot. It happened way too fast.

[Old school]

I stand at the spot and wait for Levi to come down to me before we start looking for blood. He gets down there and says something to the effect of “I can’t believe it just happened, so this is what it’s like”. I’m pretty focused in on the shot and how good or bad it is. I’m assuming he made a crazy frontal shot - he says “no I shot him behind the shoulder”. My stomach churns immediately - the frontal would’ve been no good because it was quartering to just enough where a frontal would’ve totally missed the near lung - it would’ve caught far lung and exited. Basically like a really steep quartering away shot would do. I asked him “how tight to the shoulder were you”. He said “I put it where it had to just slip in behind the shoulder bone - it was as tight to the front shoulder as you could go without hitting it.” Levi knows elk anatomy and Mike had reaffirmed that on day one before we hunted anyway - so Levi already knew it and then had Mike repeat it - repetition is the mother of learning.
I felt a little better but still wondered about the shot - man, it would’ve had to have been a perfect shot under less than ideal circumstances. Extended holding at full draw, on your knees, changed position and leaning forward and turned slightly to the left to put the shot through the only hole that was there. From where I was standing there was no clear shot at all.

[Old school]

We start looking for blood and boom - the sweet sight to a bow hunters eyes after he’s turned an arrow loose - red blood on the ground at point of impact. Light is fading fast, we might have 10 minutes of light left. I’ve got my iPhone and that’s it and it’s below 20% battery thanks to all the time I spend on OnX that afternoon finding this spot. We turn the flashlight on my phone on and start quiet as a mouse looking for blood. I don’t want to bump him, but I’d also like to see what we’ve got. We don’t make it but about 10 yards and I realize my battery is about to die - I need to mark some spots on OnX so I say “wait here, I’m going back to the Sequoia for our headlamps and the handgun.” I make the trip up there and it’s dark by the time I get back. We turn the lights on and begin a slow and silent track - drops and splashes of dark red blood - I’m thinking it’s liver blood from the exit hole if the arrow exited. We didn’t find an arrow at the spot of impact and the bull was probably 10’ below us elevation wise.
We got about 40 yards and Levi finds the front of the arrow - but the back 4” is missing basically snapped off right at the fletching - so we are missing 4” of arrow from the knock end. I’m a little puzzled by this.

A welcome find

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We go about 2 more steps and both our headlamps start flashing and going into super dim battery save mode. Unbelievable!! Of course we have spare batteries in our packs back at camp. I say “maybe this is the Lord stopping us from going any further, I don’t know, but we’d be fools to press on right now.” Levi agrees and we silently back out. We hadn’t so much as snapped a twig and the pine duff and soft earth allowed you to track like an Indian.

[Old school]

Levi's improbable outfit- sweat pants and tennis shoes

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picture taken the next morning in the daylight

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[Old school]

We get back to the Sequoia and we are both stoked. What an evening and we believe we’ve killed our first elk - now to just find him in the morning.
I send Mike a quick inreach message saying Levi shot a bull. We then start driving back to camp. We hit our turnoff and I notice ATV lights coming from the opposite direction. We pull in and wait and sure enough Mike pulls up beside us. He hadn’t got the inreach message yet, so we tell him Levi shot a bull - show him pics of the arrow and he asks all the pertinent questions that a seasoned archer would ask. I ask Mike - should we wait till morning or go back now. Mike says “I think you’ve got a dead bull from everything you say and from the picture, let’s just wait till morning, it’s supposed to be plenty cold tonight.”

We both drive back to our camps and Mike says I’ll be over about 30 minutes before sunrise. You drive and I’ll follow you on my ATV.

We eat some supper and Levi is going through the whole scenario over and over - you know, just like you’d do if you were in his shoes. One thing he’s not budged on is this - “I know I made a good shot, I was rock solid and I know where I was aiming was the right spot”. Only thing bothered me was that he didn’t see the arrow impact - I was a little worried about a possible deflection. He was shooting thru a hole that was like 2’x2’.

We ate supper, loaded the stove and hit the sack. We laid there talking till after midnight - neither of us could sleep. It was like 2 kids on Christmas Eve. I’m telling you this, it doesn’t get much better than that.

Levi finally falls asleep sometime after 1:00. Last time I checked my phone it was around 3:30 and I was still wide awake. Couldn’t wait till morning.

[Old school]

Morning comes - alarm goes off and we are both out of bed like right now. Packs already in the Sequoia - fresh batteries, kill kit, pack frame, we are confident we are going to be packing meat today.
Mike arrives on his ATV and I show him where we were hunting - he laughs and shows me his phone, he’s got that spot marked as a place that we will “get to”. Man I feel good, I found a spot on my own and Mike had independently marked the same spot - he had taught well and I’d caught what he taught.

He says let’s go.

Levi and I get in the Sequoia and pray and ask God for wisdom in tracking and finding this bull. We pull out and head for the spot.

30 minutes later we pull in and all 3 of us have packs on and bows in hand and we are silently retracing our steps last night - starting right at the road. I don’t know the exact distance but it’s around 600 yards and we are to the spot. It’s breaking light and the 3 bulls from the night before are bugling like crazy. Heading back up the meadow - sounds like they will pass within 200 yards of us.

We get on the trail but then loose blood within 20-30 yards. It’s a horribly sickening feeling. You guys know, been there, done that, you feel like it’s a coin flip probability whether or not you find him - time for the dreaded grid search. Well, not quite yet.

Mike peels off left in case the bull has made a turn back towards where we shot him. Levi peels off right in case he stayed in the heavy timber heading back the direction he came from. I stay straight ahead and start dropping down into a much steeper area that goes down into the meadow.

I haven’t gone 20 yards, I’m faceful into some type of cedar like tree, I’m looking through it and see something very out of place something huge and tan shoved up into a tree. I can’t hardly focus on it, it’s like less than 10 yards ahead of me. I back out and go around the tree and am greeted by the most beautiful sight an elk hunter can see - a dead bull elk. This is unreal.

It’s a beautiful clear bluebird sky, the other 3 bulls are screaming like crazy and I’m standing over my sons bull. I start whistling trying not to spook the other bulls but still get Levi’s and Mike’s attention. They both come over and we start quietly celebrating. I tell Mike - go kill one of those bulls, Levi and I can take care of this.

Mike said “if they get close I might, but, no, I’m staying here. We’ve got an elk to butcher and pack out.”

[Old school]

As we found him

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Proud moment

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[Old school]

Notching and attaching the tag

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[Old school]

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[Old school]

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[Old school]

Enough pictures - time for a little more story.
We tag his bull and start evaluating how are we going to process this dude. I’ve never done the gutless method with hoofs up - going to have to skin from the belly to the back.

We start skinning and do the front shoulder first - let me just say this, when you’ve got 3 guys that know what they are doing processing an elk, it cuts the time dramatically. It’s sure handy to have 3 guys breaking down a bull.

We skin up to the front shoulder (entrance wound) and as I cut - there is the back 4” of arrow, completely under the hide and about half way into the shoulder. I pull/ cut the shoulder off the carcass and hand it to Mike. He’s got a big piece of plastic laid out on the only semi flat spot where he can do the deboning. We are both curious to see how close the entrance is to the big shoulder bone.

Mike cuts away while Levi and I continue skinning and Mike says - here it is, your shot entered 1” behind that big bone. That’s as close as you can get.

The other 3 bulls serenade us till well after 8:00. It was an incredible scene. Bluebird sky, processing an elk while bulls are screaming out in the meadow heading up to their bedding area.

Lots of big flys but zero yellowjackets - how nice is that!

We get it broke down and deboned and Mike goes and hops on the ATV to go back and get his game cart. Levi and I finish up and get the meat up to a somewhat flat spot where Mike will meet us.

We get it all loaded on the cart and up to the Sequoia we go. Being out of breath huffing and puffing up a mountain never felt so good.

[Old school]

Some random thoughts before I call it a night. (I promise to finish this whole recap tomorrow).
1. We took what we had learned the hard way on our first 4 elk hunts and combined that with what Mike taught us (both aspects were necessary).

2. Be decisive when you need to - Mikes kind, but serious comments on Tue night stuck with me - when you’ve got a bull coming in, there’s no time to mess around. We would’ve messed that bull up Sun night were it not for Mikes talk on Tue night.

3. Levi practiced till he literally shot out our target. I think he could’ve shot that bull while he was laying on the ground. You cannot be too prepared because you have no idea the only shot you may be presented with for your entire trip. You may get 1 chance and that’s it.

4. Turkey hunting and elk hunting are VERY different but share some similarities. If you get in between where a Turkey roosts and where he wants to go when he flies down - you don’t have to be an expert caller. Matter of fact you don’t even have to be average. We knew where the bulls were and where they were heading and made haste to get inbetween them. I don’t even know if I’m an average caller but when you are able to get between the elk and where they are heading, some timely calls work wonders. Almost makes you feel like an expert - lol. That bull came in on a string. It’s a lot easier that way than trying to call him away from where he is really wanting to go.

5. Mike is all that and then some. Some guys are indeed experts but their arrogance and demeanor is a complete turn off. Mike is an expert but has the character to also be humble and a good teacher. If you ask, he will tell you what he knows - and that’s invaluable.

[Old school]

So we get all the meat loaded into the Sequoia, get Mike’s game cart broken down and loaded onto his 4 wheeler - it’s somewhere around 3:00 and we start the drive back to camp - we’ve still got 2 bull tags left to go.

[Old school]

We get back to camp and put all the game bags in Mike’s freezer so they can get at least semi-frozen in the next couple of days. I offer Mike some meat but he says he has plenty and it’s all mine, he’s not taking any.
It’s about 4:00 by now and Levi asks if Mike and I want to hunt tonight. Mike says he isn’t hunting and quite honestly I’m pretty whipped but man the weather is absolutely perfect. I make the decision to stay at camp, just can’t bring myself to pick up the bow and start an evening hunt. I decide to wash out a couple shirts in the creek out in front of camp. I’m at the creek washing shirts and look up to see Bullwinkle at 75 yards and closing - he is coming to my washing spot. I think “this is not good” and stand up. He now sees me and kind of cocks his head - I have no idea what he is thinking, but I’m thinking, there’s no tree within 150 yards of me - if this dude wants me, I’m toast.

Thoughts start flashing through my mind - what is it you’re supposed to do when you are surprised by a moose? It’s different depending on the species - bear, mt lion, griz. What about a moose - do you slowly back away from a moose or is it make yourself look big? Do I fall into the fetal position and cry for momma - is it red touching yellow will kill a fellow or is it yellow touching black step back. Forget all the rhymes and reasons, I’m trusting my gut instinct and my gut is saying - get out of this spot now.

I grab my shirts and start backing away - towards camp. I get about 20 yards and he starts walking toward me, so I pick up the pace a little. Before you know it, I feel like there is now an adequate distance between us where I’m not near as nervous.

Maybe I’m chicken little and maybe it’s a nervousness that wasn’t warranted - but who cares, either way, I was nervous.

I holler towards camp for Levi to step out of the tent and see a moose. He’s shocked that this moose is just standing there staring at us with not a concern in the world that we are people.

Man is this awesome. I’m a blessed man. First we see antelope, then mule deer, then black bear, then elk and now a moose. All we are missing is a wolf and a griz - I’m hoping we don’t see a griz and Levi is hoping we see a wolf as he has his .300 prc and is lethal with that thing out past 1,000 yards.

Bullwinkle

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[Old school]

Talk with Mike and the plan is we are going back in the morning to the spot where Levi killed his bull.
Bulls were in the area Sunday night and Monday morning. No reason they shouldn’t be there Tuesday morning, right…

I’m thinking there’s a real good chance we are packing meat again tomorrow.

Levi and I have some “cleanup” to do on the euro skull. I gouge out the eye balls and then get some water from the jacket on the wood stove, take the tent stake Mike gave us and start scrambling brains and pulling them out - due to CWD or something else, you’re supposed to have all that “cleaned” up before you transport it home. Amazing how many brains are in a elks head. Scramble with the tent stake, pour in super hot water, somewhat seal the hole, shake it up and pour it out - repeat as many times as necessary. We’ve finally got the skull pretty clean.

Don’t even remotely remember what we ate for supper that night - maybe thats when we ate some chicken fajita roll ups. Stoke the fire, count our blessings, rehash the day and God’s absolute goodness to us - it honestly seems surreal that we have killed an elk, processed it, packed it off the mountain and have it in a freezer. We shut off the propane lantern and go to bed - eager for what just may lie in store tomorrow.

Alarm goes off and we are up and attem. Tired from the days work before but amazingly not really too sore.

Mike has said be prepared to stay out on the mountain all day - if we can get in with the elk early we may just stay with them all day. Beats the walk in and walk out - twice.

[Old school]

Mike shows up on his ATV and we all pile into the Sequoia and off to Levi’s spot.
We pull in and it’s still 10-15 minutes before legal shooting light. We slowly work our way down the logging road and then peel off downhill into the timber. We are probably within 50-100 yards of where Levi shot his bull. Mike sounds off with a signature bugle - I mean it’s perfect. And guess what…

Surprise, surprise, surprise. A bull down in the meadow screams back at us. It’s still a little too dark to shoot back in the timber so we just slowly work down the steep edge towards the meadow.

We get within 50 or so yards of the meadow and Mike bugles again and bam - big bull answers back. This is honestly what I expected this entire hunt to be like, but due to whatever reason initially and then the rainy weather, it just hadn’t happened with the exception being Tuesday night and Sunday night. Although Monday while we were processing would have been a super day to be hunting them as they were bugling like crazy all on their own.

Anyway, where were we before I digressed and chased that rabbit. Oh yeah - we’ve got a herd bull screaming back at Mikes calls, how could I forget.

We drop down the steep slope and hit the meadows edge. I was fully expecting at least 1 if not 2 elk to be in sight somewhere. Nope - nothing. I’m thinking “where are they, they sounded like they were right there and they should be working their way back up the way they came down Sunday night.”

This also isn’t one smooth meadow that runs downhill - as you look across it slopes down from the right to the left. But as you look across it there is a decent hill/mountain on the other side and there’s a big “spine” you’ve got to go up and over to get there - the bulls were obviously up on that spine and dropped off the other side instead of dropping into our side. Oh well, just means we are going to be chasing them rather than being inbetween them and where they want to go. Our chances have just gone down some, but man, the bull is still screaming.

We cross a creek and go up this little “spine” - (it’s not so little when you’re climbing it.). We stop to catch our breath a couple of times - it’s pretty chilly this morning and the cold air and pine scent are what Elktember is made of.

We traverse down the backside of the spine and now have another creek to cross before we head up the side of the mountain. No real good place to cross but we find the best case and across we go.

We get into the timber and Mike bugles again - the bull is a good 300’ of elevation above us and has started working around the face of the mountain - there’s a little bench up there on the NW side and that’s where he is obviously heading. We are coming up from the south(ish). The bull bugles back at us - he is still super vocal.

We get up to his elevation and it really flattens out (flat is a relative term here). Instead of thick timber, it’s thinned out a little and there’s a bunch of deadfall. Mike says - you want to call for me? I’m thinking - are you nuts? Have you heard me call? So, I tell him, “you really want me to call for you?” Mike says “you were good enough to call in Levi’s bull, you can call.” He hands Levi a hoochie mama push type call (I can see BigDan rolling over in his grave) and says (Levi, use this while your dad is calling). I’m really hoping I can contribute even in a small way to Mike killing this bull. Mike takes off into some real thick pines heading towards the bull.

[Old school]

I let loose with a bugle and man oh man, the bull hammers a bugle back at me. I’m guessing we are maybe 150ish yards from him. I pick up a big dead branch and start thrashing a pine/spruce in front of me - it’s sounds realistic to me and Levi is making some cow sounds as I’m thrashing this tree. Levi calls some more and I scream at him trying to paint the picture in the bulls mind that there is a little bull over there with a few cows and I’m doing everything I can to keep those cows from heading over to join him.
The bull bugles, Levi cow calls back at him and I give my best “girls, you are staying right here with me bugle.” I continue thrashing trees - I’m a little out of breath doing this whole routine. Actually I’m a lot out of breath to be quite honest. I’m putting everything I’ve got into this calling routine.

Suddenly we hear Mikes bugle join in the party - they’ve moved a little further away, so we pick up and move with them continuing our sequence. The bull is responding to everything and I am 100% expecting Mike is killing this bull. I bugle, the bull bugles and then Mike bugles - over and over and over this routine happens and you can tell from his bugles that Mike is right on top of this bull. We obviously can’t see them but they are only 100ish yards up in front of us.

Levi and I are still moving forward and calling but the bull has suddenly gone silent - I’m thinking, oh yeah, dead bulls don’t bugle. I’m pretty confident we are going to find Mike with an arrow missing from his quiver.

We hear Mike give a turkey yelp - we start making our way through the brush to him.

[Old school]

We are climbing over deadfall and making our way through some super thick stuff - shorter pines/spruce like regrowth. We can finally see Mike and he doesn’t have much expression on his face and I’m thinking - either he has no emotions at all after killing a stud bull, or he’s got his poker face on, or he didn’t get a shot.
We finally get up to him and sure enough he was dancing with the herd bull but just couldn’t get a shot off - just too thick and he had cows all around him.

Well that’s elk hunting for you - highs and lows. Tue morning is about past and we don’t have an elk on the ground. We start making our way around this mountain to the north. We go about 300 yards or so and we hit a chute/valley/draw. Whatever you call it from where you’re from.

It’s a lush draw and there are some elk trails in it. We turn and start gaining elevation while working up this draw. We get almost to the head of it and we hit a wallow. Man, this thing has been hammered by elk in the early season, but it doesn’t look like they are using it now. This would be an absolute primo spot early in Sept. Tucked in on the north side of a mountain with thick reprod/regrowth all around it.

[Old school]

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[Old school]

We move up above the draw, out of the meadowish area and into some reprod/regrowth that was a little thinner. We are going to eat breakfast, take a nap and hang out for the day. We get breakfast eaten get comfortable and guess what happens - you guessed it, it starts raining. Initially spitting rain but then it start coming heavier and it’s blowing a lot colder. There was like a 1% chance of rain that day. Doesn’t matter what the % was, fact is it’s raining a very cold rain.
We all get in our rain gear and think - we are toughing this thing out. After about 30 minutes Mike asks if we want to ride it out or head back - he said it’s one thing to hang out with the elk rather than walk in and out twice, it’s another thing to just sit out in the rain all day. We decide to start slowly heading for the Sequoia.

We are up above where we had all the action earlier in the morning and we start side hilling towards the south where we can then drop down. It’s so thick and has so much blow down junk it’s going to be a long long process if we continue. And there’s not a lot more fun than going through deadfall/blowdowns when it’s wet and your boots are wet. No thanks. Not real safe either and none of us want to risk injury. Mike charts a new course and we gain elevation to get around the junk. We’ve been going for about a half an hour and the rain stops.

We are now all the way around to the south side - but we’re a little bit higher than where we came up initially and turned NW.

We poke out into another chute/meadow that traverses all the way down to the creek - by the “spine”. Talk about a view…. And there is a monster wallow down there. Mike says “let’s move down on to that knob and sit for the day if you want to”. I’m doing whatever Mike is doing - that’s my position/opinion.

We get comfortable and after a little bit a moose comes out below us and walks up the spine at a 45 degree angle, obviously following a game trail. That moose made it look like Childs play, a walk in the park, a piece of cake - and I needed to stop twice while climbing that spine.

Moose casually climbing the “spine”

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[Old school]

We sit all afternoon and nap and tell stories. I’m just soaking this entire experience in. Don’t want to take for granted that I’ll be back - never know what tomorrow holds. Enjoy life every day and I’m thoroughly enjoying this day. I’ve eaten all my snacks by about 4:00 and Levi has obliterated his roaming wilderness convenience store as well.
We sit till almost dark and no bugles, no nothing. Maybe they peeled off the north side of the mountain today - who knows, but they didn’t come to the south - at least not while it was light.

We pack up and head down the mountain, cross the creek and take the moose trail up the spine. We get up top and Mike bugles - no responses. We were really thinking something would answer somewhere but nope - silence. He calls a few more times and we get no responses. Dropping off the backside of the spine -facing the timber where Levi shot his bull, is pretty close to straight down. We work our way further west and then bisect the slope on the way down so we don’t trip and roll to the bottom.

We hit the bottom and cross the last creek and make our way to the Treeline where Levi shot his bull. Before we get going Mike bugles and a bull way back where we came from sounds off.

Mike looks on OnX and finds the most terrain friendly spot to climb this mountain up to the logging road. It’s thick, dark and steep - man, this is the epitome of elk hunting. We’ve hunted hard, put some miles on the boots, stayed till past dark and now we navigate some thick, nasty steep stuff in the dark before we get out. Life is good. I stop to peel off my Core4 Element hoody and my longjohns - I’m absolutely roasting. We finally hit the logging road and I strip off the rest of my layers. I’m about to get sick, I’m so hot.

Off to the Sequoia we go and in about 15 minutes on the logging road, we are there.

We’re driving back and Mike asks about splitting up tomorrow to increase our chances of success. If we hunt together, there’s only one shooter. If we go separate we increase our odds - we all agree that we will hunt separate areas tomorrow. Mike is going back to the area we hunted Tue PM and Wed and Levi and I are coming back here.

We get back to camp, cook some late supper, stoke the wood stove and hit the sack. Weather is iffy the next few days so we’ve got to make tomorrow morning count.

Propane lantern is turned out - time to reflect on the blessing of the day. I’m telling you, it doesn’t get much better than this. I’m trying to kill a bull, but honestly, I’ve already checked every box that mattered on this hunt. Whether or not I kill a bull has no impact on how I view this hunt.

[Old school]

I awake in the middle of the night to a mature bull bugling and I can tell it came from the meadows out where we went Tue morning. I dose off but get awakened by another of his bugles - he’s between our camp and Mikes.
A little while later he bugles and it sounds like he has passed us and is back by the pond. This is unreal. This dude has an awesome bugle. Deep and throaty.

This goes on literally all night and Levi sleeps through it all. The alarm goes off and I reset it for 45 minutes later. Levi is perplexed and says “what are you doing, we can’t be late this morning.” I say we aren’t driving to hunt - we are hunting by camp. Levi doesn’t agree with this. He knows what we’ve got over by where he killed his bull.

I tell him about the events of the night and almost right on que the bull sounds off. Levi says “man, he is really close”. Yeah, he’s close, like within 200 yards of camp kind of close.

I say, we aren’t leaving a bugling herd bull right outside our tent to drive 30 minutes with the hope of finding a bugling herd bull. Levi agrees and we lay there for a little while longer. Ok. Time to get up. This bull has bugled and bugled. I later ask Mike if he heard any of it and he says no - he doesn’t hear anything from inside his camper.

[Old school]

We get breakfast eaten, get our packs on and bows in hand and walk out the door - it’s 15 minutes till shooting light and the bull is screaming over in the meadow not 300 yards from camp.
We head to where we started this adventure Tue morning. To the same spot Mike took us the 1st morning. This herd bull is screaming in the predawn light and there is just nothing like it. He’s less than 100 yards away, we can’t see him and we’ve still got 10 minutes before we can shoot.

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[Old school]

We are sitting in complete silence. No way are we calling when the last time we heard the herd bull he was less than 100 yards away. No way I want him coming in closer until it’s shooting light. He get suspiciously quiet for the 10 minutes before shooting light. Shooting light comes and I let loose with my signature bugle - lol. The bull screams back at me but he’s like 300+ yards away. That dirty rascal - go silent and slip away before it gets light.
Levi and I start busting it trying to close the distance. We go about 200 yards and I bugle again and he responds and he’s not more than 100 yards away. We start to scramble for a setup spot. We get situated quickly and I bugle - no response. Cow call - no response, but a satellite to the left and a satellite ahead and to the right both bugle. This is absolutely the way a hunt needs to end - in the middle of a bugle fest.

Levi looks at me like “which one are we going after?” About that time I see the satellite off to my right and he’s moving away on the edge of a small rise - he’s in hot pursuit of a cow.

I’m thinking to myself, we’ve already got an elk down - I’m killing that herd bull or will strike out trying. If Levi didn’t already have a bull, we would’ve peeled off and tried to call a satellite.

The herd bull bugles again and he’s 3-400 yards away. This guy is a knucklehead and needs to be shot. You know the routine, Levi and I bust a move and are sucking wind as we try to sprint around him and cut him off.

I believe he is headed for the area where we found the tree stands - it’s thick, and choked with elk sign. No doubt this was their bedding area before the spike killer got in there.

I’m thinking “they left for a week and now they are back”. I really think we’ve got a legit shot at getting in close on this bull - but I’m not calling to him until I think we are right on top of him.

You can see the terrain in the above pic - not huge mountains to climb but still some serious country to cover with elevation gains and losses.

We’ve been in the mountains for 10 days now and we have our mountain legs and lungs - we are absolutely killing it trying to run around them - basically they are taking a big lazy arc to the area and we are cutting the angle and running to the spot to beat them there.

If you’re 19 this isn’t near as big a deal as when you’re 52. I’m sucking the wind off the mountains. I think I was breathing so hard that I was affecting the thermals in the immediate vicinity.

We get into the edge of the timber and I’m doubled over sucking wind and a little light headed. Suddenly he screams and he is right over the cusp of the the hill. He is exactly where we thought they’d be and we are ahead of him. He’s on a slope that actually borders a road and it’s a killer elevation drop to the road and then back up to the other side. On evening Mike, Levi and I saw a cow and calf across there - it may only be 800 yards straight across but wow would it be a trek down and up to get there.

Surely this bull doesn’t have that in mind and he’s just going to mosey into the thick stuff right here 50 yards away from him where we lie in wait.

I’m trying to get my breath so I could remotely pull off a decent shot. He is silent, so I bugle and he sounds off but he’s sounds to be a little bit further than he was before. I cut him off with a challenge bugle hoping he will want to come in and whoop my scrawny little satellite rear end.

He goes silent for about 1 minute. Next time he bugles he is across the road at the same elevation I am. Dirty dog. I absolutely did not see this coming. He is just inside the timber edge with his herd of cows and he is bugling like every 30 seconds at me. I think he wants me to March out into the open side and chase him - just so he can verify that I’m a human. I tell Levi “I’m not giving that bull the satisfaction of seeing us, we need to haul it back to camp, get in the Sequoia and drive over there.” He had bugled probably 20 times from the spot and he wasn’t really moving anymore. It was a somewhat small patch of north facing timber on a little knoll.

Let’s get moving - we look at OnX and start making our way back to camp - alternating between fast walking and walking. Man oh man it was beautiful that morning - sun is out bright and bulls bugling. Don’t know where the little bulls went - never saw or herd them once we started chasing the herd bull. Maybe we would bump into them on the way back thru. Nope, nothing but beautiful scenery on our way back to camp.

We chug down a gatorade, eat a protein bar and hop in the Sequoia. It’s now approaching 11:00.

[Old school]

We drove quickly over to that spot, park the Sequoia and begin a walk around that north facing knoll - it’s thick timber and I have no doubt he is bedded there. Probably 2/3 of the way up it.
We circle and approach from the south - we are above them with the wind in our face and the thermals are sucking up - we have everything in our favor. And there is a wide and clear trail all along the top of this edge. This is unbelievable- I mean you couldn’t set this up any better. We’ve come in completely silent, haven’t made a peep. I believe we are pretty close to being right above them - and man is the timber short and thick down in there. Like you can’t see 5 yards thick. Yep - they are in there without a doubt.

Levi and I stop and I hand motion that we are going to pause and then slip down into the timber. No words are said.

We hadn’t been stopped for 30 seconds when the mountain side erupts - branches snapping hoofs smacking stuff - all the stinking cows were beside us like 10 yards away. All of a sudden the bull chuckles. He’s probably 75 yards down in the thick stuff and all he knows is that his cows are running everywhere. I let out a bugle hoping he thinks I’m a satellite coming in to steal cows.

No response. Hindsight is always 20/20 when things don’t go as planned. Looking back I wish I would’ve just charged down into there when the cows were busting. Maybe I could have crashed into him and got a close shot off - probably not though as it was insanely thick.

The herd travels north and about 10 minutes later I bugle and he bugles back at me from 1,000+ yards away on the opposite hillside. He’s still moving away.

Levi and I head back to the Sequoia and to camp. I tell him - this hunt is over, this is how it was supposed to end chasing a herd bull and matching wits with him.

I was a little letdown in that we got outclassed by that herd bull, but they were doing the same to Mike, so I took some comfort in that. If Mike wasn’t having success with the herd bulls, something was going to have to go really right for me to succeed.

We head back to camp and Levi is talking me into hunting tonight. I’m telling him “Levi, we are pulling out in the morning, I don’t want to kill and elk tonight, butcher him in the dark and pack elk meat all night, get back to camp without any sleep, break down camp and start the drive home - there is nothing about that scenario that appeals to me. Levi has his bull and we’ve had the adventure of a lifetime.

I finally persuaded him that I wasn’t going. He was convinced I’d be kicking myself later for not hunting one last time. He had reason for this - all previous elk hunts we bailed a day early because we were just worn down to the nubbs. Then within a week I was kicking myself for not sticking it out 1 more day. Honestly, it still bothers me.

I told him - this is not like that. I’m not quitting a day early because I’m whipped. I’m forgoing the last hunt because we’ve already been wildly successful.

We get a bunch of misc stuff packed up that afternoon - there’s a slight chance of rain that night and a very slight chance for Thursday around noon. The roads are in pretty decent shape so I’m hoping the rain holds off.

Mike comes back from his hunt and he had an opportunity but couldn’t quite close the deal. We get the meat from his freezer, shake hands and say our goodbyes.

Mike was everything I hoped he would be. A real decent human being and an absolute mountain man woodsman. He put up with our deficiencies and didn’t complain, rather he helped. I’d hunt with him again in a heartbeat.

We hunted as much apart as we did together but that was ok. That was part of the plan. Mike would show us to ropes and then we would just take it day by day. The weather just threw a massive monkey wrench into the whole hunt. Felt like it cancelled 40% of our hunts - or forced us to hunt around camp.

While we were packing Levi made the comment that he was glad we didn’t kill a bull on Saturday over 3 miles away from camp - and that it happened where it did. Told him - yep, there’s a reason for everything and how thankful I was that it worked out like it did.

I’ll attach a few more misc pictures. The last will be a diner in Nebraska. I’ve never had a better breakfast - then again maybe it was all the mountain house breakfast skillets that had drastically lowered my standards.

Enjoy every hunt like it’s your last because one day it will be and none of us know when that day will be. My dad had 2 major strokes last year and will in all likelihood never hunt again. He’s the reason I love hunting, he took me when I was a kid and we hunted all our lives together. I’ve killed 2 bulls with a rifle and dad was on both of those hunts - one in the panhandle of Idaho and one in Montana at the southern tip of “The Bob”. Memories burned down deep in my mind.

This hunt I hope I did the same for Levi - burned down deep in his mind - this is what dads and sons do. He’s a great kid and really not a kid anymore. Mike made the statement “how many 19 year olds do you know that have killed a branch antlered bull with a bow - probably not many”

He wants to antelope hunt next year and we’ve got 7 Wyoming points each to burn - archery for a few days and then rifle just to make sure…. We will see, plans may change before then, but I’m up for a change of pace for a year if that’s what he wants.

Fellas - what a life. I’m a saved man, get to pastor great people, living in America with a great family and get to enjoy the great outdoors - What.A.Life.

Till next time - Happy Thanksgiving and thank you for following along - I’ve had a blast reliving the experience.

[Old school]

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[Old school]

That’s it fellas - thanks to everyone who has helped me along on this elk hunting journey. I certainly didn’t get here on my own.

Beat Breakfast Ever - Nebraska

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The boy can eat I’m telling you

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Once again - Happy Thanksgiving!! We’ve got much to thank The Lord for!!!

[Swede]

Congratulations on a fine bull. Well done.

[six]

Great Bull and what a story. Thanks for taking the time to share it with us.

[Elkhunttoo]

Awesome!!! Thanks for sharing!!! Congrats on the bull

[Lefty]

Great story ,, Some little comments that made me chuckle, and bring forth some of our elk memories



Just make sure and save/ print a copy maybe even a Casco photo book